Tag Archives: Holidays

A conversation with Scrooge and Scribe about Intrepid’s upcoming holiday staged reading…

“A Christmas Carol is absolutely a ghost story.” Brian Mackey is emphatic as he describes his new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ timeless story, co-written with fellow San Diego actor Rachel van Wormer. Brian will also be directing.

“Even Dickens points out that fact in the introduction,” explains Brian. “He refers to it a ‘Christmas ghost story.'”

But audiences shouldn’t be worried. Revealing some of the darkness of the tale is just one of the gifts of adapting the story word for word from Dickens – a gift that develops more and more deeply throughout the play.

While Brian and Rachel’s adaptation doesn’t shy away from some of the darker moments of this tale, it is also very clear about the theme of the story: the transformative and giving spirit of the season.

“I think that’s why people come back to it again and again and why it’s appropriate for the holidays,” says Brian. “We are able to witness one man’s transformation from a curmudgeon to someone lighthearted. It’s a touching, powerful story of a man changing his life.”

So powerful, in fact, they knew it was necessary to find the right actor to handle Scrooge – both in the dark times as well as in the light. Not everyone can be convincing at both ends of the story.

The choice turned out to be simple one. Ron Choularton has been discovering and rediscovering this tale since childhood, when English television used to air it every Christmas Eve, featuring Alastair Sim. To date, he has played a part in 28 performances and readings of A Christmas Carol.

“There was a time when I was yearning to get old enough to play Scrooge,” says Ron of his days as Marley’s Ghost and Bob Crachit.

What keeps drawing him to this tale?

“As sad as Scrooge is in the beginning of his journey, there is just as much joy at the end. It’s a joyful thing. To see someone really change and change for the better – it’s one of the most uplifting things to see in your life,” says Ron. He adds, “It’s the story of a second chance – one that most people never get.”

To that end, Ron is charged with the task of creating the horrible, penny-pnching, and miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and leading the audience through this transformative journey. He feels that Dickens is right not to shy away from the darkness that weighs on Scrooge in the opening scenes.

“It’s a fable,” he says. “Everyone in Scrooge’s life has left him, so his love of money is really about his fears of abandonment. The ghosts are teachers and their job is to scare the you-know-what out of Scrooge. Gradually, he realizes these things he’s forgotten about and forgotten to do. The transformation from darkness to light is not something that should be taken lightly.”

Brian agrees. “There is also an urgency about that journey,” he says. “Marley is basically saying, ‘You have tonight to save your soul.'”

Despite the grave themes present in the story, both Scrooge and scribe are confident that audiences of all ages will enjoy the performance. “There is some really funny stuff in there,” says Ron. “It is an amazing thing to see children who are affected by the story.”

Something tells us that Scrooge won’t be the only one transformed by the end of the night. — T.T.